Gotse Delchev (town) - History - Bulgarian Reneisance Period

Bulgarian Reneisance Period

In the 19th century, along with agriculture, husbandry and beekeeping in the town developed coppersmith crafts, goldsmith, packsaddle manufacturing, homespun, leather and timber trade. Local traders carried goods and sold them at fairs in Serres, Drama, Melnik and Uzundzhovo. Since the second half of the 19th century every year in August is held Nevrokop Fair, which flocked merchants from the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, France and other countries.

In 1808-1811 the Christian community in the town built a small church dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. During the 1833 - 1841 year they built a large and monumental church " Holy Virgin Mary", which is a result of reforms in the Empire.

Bulgarian population of Nevrokop stood against the Greek clergy for church independence and early Bulgarian education. In 1862 in the town was found the first Bulgarian school with the first teacher Todor Nenov and in 1867 a school for girls was opened . The Greek Orthodox Bishop Agathangel gave the half the urban school for Bulgarian school, but after protests of Greeks and Vlachs the Bulgarian school was closed and Nenov - expelled. Bulgarians in the city threatened with uniat with the Pope and the bishop reopened the Bulgarian school.In 1865 was opened a community center. In 1870 was founded a female community ". In 1873 was formed a teachers' community "Enlightenment," which played an important role in the struggles of the Bulgarians. Positive impact on cultural revival of Nevrokop had the Bulgarian communities in Plovdiv and Pazardzhik. They assisted with teachers, teaching materials, books and money.

After the Russo-Turkish War 1877 - 1878 and the Berlin Congress of 1878 Nevrokop as throughout Macedonia remained within the Ottoman Empire. The divided Bulgarian lands became arena of the process of national unification. In May 1878 on behalf of the Bulgarian community in Nevrokop was signed "Memorandum of the Bulgarian church and school communities in Macedonia", which wanted to join Macedonia in the newly formed Bulgarian state.

In "Ethnography of vilayets Adrianople, Monastir and Salonika ", published in Constantinople in 1878 and reflecting the male population statistics of 1873, in Nevrokop were counted 1,912 households with 3,800 Muslim inhabitants, 1,000 Bulgarians, and 150 Vlachs.

After the war, the city had 600 to 700 Bulgarian families and 40-50 Vlachian. The Bulgarian community leaded by the minister Dimitar Ikonomov kept one boys' and one girls' school.In 1891 George Strezov said, that the number of houses in Nevrokop was 1229 and the population amounted to 11,000 people - mostly Muslims. Christians lived in two neighborhoods - "Varosh" and "Kumsala". Recently settled Jews concentrated the urban commerce in their hands. There were two churches-one under the control of the Greeks. In the town operated Bulgarian boys' and girls' schools with 80 students. There were also Greek boys' and girls' schools.After long and persistent struggle of the local Bulgarians in Nevrokop in 1894 the Sultan issued a "berat" - a decree about the creation of the "Nevrokop Bulgarian Diocese", under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Exarchate with the first Primate Metropolitan Hilarion.

In 1900, according to statistics of Vasil Kanchov "Macedonia. Ethnography and statistics", the Nevrokop population counted 6,215 people, of whom 850 Bulgarians, 5,000 Turks, 190 Vlachs, 110 Jews and 65 Gypsies.

During the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in the fall of 1903 in the Nerokop area there were revolutionary activities.

According to statistics of the secretary of the Bulgarian Exarchate Dimitar Mishev ("La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne") in 1905 Nevrokop Christian population consists of 1,016 Bulgarians Exarchists, 288 Bulgarians patriarshists, 60 Greeks, 168 Vlachs, 116 Gypsies. The city operates one elementary and one lower secondary Bulgarian schools with 6 teachers and 151 students, and two Greek schools starting with 6 teachers and 77 students.

In the official statistics of the Vilayet of Thessaloniki from 1906 - 1907 in Nevrokop were counted 20 neighborhoods with 1,432 houses, 598 shops, 12 mosques, four mesjids, two churches and more than 8 tekkes that described a well developed and organized Muslim community. In addition, there are seven schools for Muslims and two Christians.

Greek source mentioned in 1908 that the town had 5,900 inhabitants, of whom 3,865 Turks, 490 Muslim Gypsies, 595 Christians belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church and 900 Christians belonging to the Bulgarian Exarchate. The same source mentioned that Nevrokop area was predominantly Muslim - an average of 51,000 out of 83,000 inhabitants. At the outbreak of the Balkan War in 1912 fifty-seven people of the city are volunteers Macedonian-Adrianople volunteers.